On That Morning
by Fire The Canon
Summary: On May second, 1998, many things happened. But what happened in the very early hours, before anyone knew they were in for a long battle that night? For thefirstservant and Canon Pairings Challenge. FredAngelina.


_**Written for thefirstservant as part of the Gift Giving Extravaganza**_

_**Written for love from elysium's Canon Pairings Competition. I chose Fred and Angelina and used the prompt 'Morning'**_

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**On That Morning**

On May second, 1998, Fred woke up to darkness. It was still pitch black outside, and in the bed beside him, George still slept soundly. He looked to his brother and sighed. He was sick of it here. He was sick of being in hiding – of being at his Aunt Muriel's.

He missed his shop, and he missed his apartment. He just wanted to be back there, doing something; anything.

That was, of course, impossible. The moment the Death Eaters sensed another presence, they'd be on him before he could say _Apparate_.

Still, he longed for the freedom again. He missed it.

With another sigh, he kicked the covers away and made his way down the cold, dark stairs and into his great-aunt's kitchen. Everyone else was asleep, which suited him just fine. He needed to be alone.

He made himself some toast and a cup of coffee and sat at the table, lost in thought. It wasn't until there was a gentle tap at the door that he jumped up. Who was knocking at the door this early in the morning? No one knew where they were, save for any members of the Order.

With his heart pounding against his chest, he peaked out the window. There was no one there. He put it down to lack of sleep and paranoia, and returned to his breakfast.

No sooner had he taken a bite from his toast, then another tap came, this time followed by a _hoot_.

Fred threw the door open and in fluttered an owl he did not recognise. It stuck its leg out, but Fred didn't dare remove the letter. Who knew what it contained. It was hard to trust anyone these days.

The owl hooted again, and Fred was worried that it would wake everyone up.

_Good_, he then decided. Surely someone here would be able to recognise a dangerous letter when they saw one.

It wasn't until the third _hoot_ that he realised he _did_ recognise the owl. "Ethel?" he questioned. The owl gave a fourth _hoot_ and stuck out its leg once more. This time Fred took it.

He opened it with caution.

_Fred, _

_Don't be alarmed, but I know where you are. Mr Shacklebolt said you might be able to help me. I'm standing near the trees just on the outside of the protective enchantments. I'll still be here, no matter when you receive this letter. Please come and see me; I'll explain everything._

_Angelina._

Fred stared at the letter, shocked by this turn of events. It had to be a trap. There was no way Kingsley would reveal their whereabouts. Not to anyone. It was impossible to trust anyone, even if they had once proved to be a friend.

He glanced up at Ethel. She _was_ Angelina's owl and the handwriting did look slightly familiar. It was rushed, but the way Angelina curved her _g's_ was undeniable.

"Well," he said to the owl, "We're all going to die at one stage or another, aren't we?"

Ethel fluttered her wings.

"We'll go and see Angie, shall we?"

He opened the door and a cool blast of air greeted him. Fred ignored it. If Angelina was in trouble, he wasn't going to let her stand out there for too long.

It wasn't too far past the protective enchantments, but far enough that by the time he reached the trees, he could no longer feel his toes.

And there was no sign of Angelina either.

"Angie?" he hissed.

There was no sound.

"Angelina?"

"Fred?"

Fred whipped around and to his relief, saw the exact person he had been hoping to see. He couldn't help but smile, embracing her in a warm hug. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Angelina looked up at him, her brown eyes full of sadness.

"Tell me what happened," he instructed. She shivered. "Come on, let's go inside." He took her hand, but she didn't move.

"Fred…."

"You're freezing, Angelina," Fred said. "Come inside."

She hesitated for another moment, before finally complying. He led her back into the nice, warm kitchen. Once he had made her a cup of coffee and food, they both sat at the table.

"Now, tell me what you're doing here."

Angelina sucked in a deep breath. "They came for my family," she whispered. "All of them… in the middle of the night." A tear trickled down her cheek.

"You mean they're –"

She shook her head. "No, we all got away," she said. "But we got separated. We just had to Apparate and… and I Apparated to the Order HQ."

Fred was surprised by this. "You know where that is?" he questioned.

Angelina nodded. "I'd heard you and the others talk enough about it to have a fair idea. So I went there. It was the first place I thought of. I came looking for you, but there was only Kingsley there." More tears fell down. "He-he thought I was one of them." She buried her face into her hands. "He tried to kill me."

Fred patted her arm. "But he didn't," he said. "How did he work it out?"

"I think he saw that I was really scared," she told him. "Genuinely frightened, and no Death Eater would be so frightened, not these days. I told him I wanted to see you, and he said he couldn't tell me where you were. But… he cracked."

That surprised Fred even more. Kingsley didn't crack.

"He gave me the coordinates, and I found myself in the forest where you found me. Ethel was already there. She… she must have known."

Fred glanced over to the perch where the owl was now sleeping. Owls were relatively smart, and Angelina's was no exception. "Well, that's good at least. But, how did you know I was awake?"

"I didn't," Angelina confessed. "I just hoped Ethel would find you, and that you'd come to get me. I was scared and alone… I've never been so scared."

She broke down into sobs, and Fred moved around the table to comfort her.

"There, there," he said, drawing her into his chest. "It's okay, you're safe now. Muriel won't have a problem in holding another person here." He knew she would, of course, but that was really her problem. Angelina had nowhere to go, and there was no way Fred was going to let her go out on her own to be killed by Death Eaters.

"Everyone else is asleep," he said after a while. "I'm sure no one will mind if you crash on the couch for a few hours. I'll stay with you."

Angelina looked at him, her beautiful eyes turned red from her tears. She gave him a weak smile.

"Thank you," she said. "I don't mean to intrude… I-I know it's hard for you all."

Fred returned her smile. "It's no problem," he assured her, helping her to her feet. "I'd rather you here and safe, then out there alone with Death Eaters everywhere."

She laughed, but it was a laugh filled with no humour. No one laughed like that anymore. There was no reason to.

Fred Summoned two pillows and two blankets. He put one set on the couch for Angelina, and another on the floor for him. It was about four-thirty now. He hoped no one else would wake until the sun was up.

Once they were both settled, he flicked his wand at the only light that was on, and they were in complete darkness.

A few sobs still came from Angelina occasionally, but mostly, they remained silent. It wasn't until Fred guessed it was five that she spoke.

"How is everybody?" she asked softly. "Your mum, dad, George, Ginny, Ron?"

Fred bristled at the sound of their names. "Well, Mum, Dad, George and Ginny are all here, safe and well," he said. "Ron; no one knows where he is."

This brought another moment of silence. "He's missing?" she questioned.

"He's with Harry and Hermione, doing some mission for Dumbledore," Fred explained. "But, please don't mention him to Mum. She breaks down every time she hears his name. I think she suspects him to be dead, but we'd have heard if he was. I mean, he's with _Harry Potter_."

"I hope they're all safe," Angelina said, and Fred could have sworn her voice was closer.

"Yeah, me too."

He felt her really close now. She was lying beside him on the floor, her arm snaking over her body. He felt her head rest against his shoulder.

"Stay with me," she whispered. "I don't want to be alone."

Fred smiled, pressing his lips into her hair. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised. "For as long as you're with me, you're safe, Angelina."

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_**My first FredAngelina fic :) I'm not sure why I started it on the morning of Fred's death :( It just happened. I hope you all liked, as I had a lot of trouble starting it, but I'm actually fairly happy with it, considering I struggle with the Weasley twins.**_

_**thefirstservant - I hope you like. You said you didn't mind anything Weasley. **_

_**Your reviews would mean a lot :)**_


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